Hotter summer expected this year

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Temperatures this week in Charlotte are going to be hotter than they were all last summer and the season really hasn't officially started.
 
"The cooler summer last year was a fluke," meteorologist John Ahrens said. "And it all started with this strong area of low pressure in the north Atlantic. It kept what's known as a trough over the Carolinas, driving cooler air and rain our way."
 
This year, that low looks a lot weaker and that will allow the heat to really build up.
 
University of North Carolina - Charlotte professor Matt Eastin thinks we may be getting back to more of our summertime roots.
 
Winds from the south will haul in the heat but they will also carry more moisture.
 
"It will get up there but on any given day we might have the storms that will come through and with the cool downdrafts, it will cool off into the 70s and 80s," Eastin said.
 
Those thunderstorms will be the key to cool off the temperatures.
 
"But it shouldn't get too hot for very long with that rain," Ahrens said. "And of course, that rain should keep the word 'drought' out of the conversation for a while as well."

WSOC